Atlas Moth - An Ache For The Distance.Holy fucking shit, this is amazing. The band has three guitarists, and there is usually at least two guitars and this multi-layered approach really pays off. They are often melodic, but this is still a very heavy record. I'm not sure what genre I'd put this in. The lead singer has a very sharp rasp that would fit in with black metal and the clean singer has a very deep voice and is superb at melodies. The rhythm guitar is usually very doomy and the lead melodic. They sometimes go into stoner mode and rip out some riffs that sound like Nebula. The album also has a great sense of atmosphere, which is sometimes a bit spacey. Possibly my favourite metal album of 2011.

Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1This is the first release by Nachtmystium where they really start to move away from black metal. There are often doomy riffs, the vocals aren't always the typical black metal rasps and there are a few (sometimes quite long) interludes that have nothing at all to do with black metal. I think this album is really cool, the songwriting is great (although sometimes a bit more rock oriented than traditional black metal), the guitar solos are killer and the psychedelic effects really make this album distinct. The seasick trilogy is amazing, and far removed from anything Nachtmystium has ever done before. Part two features some really cool almost jazzy solos and saxaphone from Bruce of Yakuza and Bloodiest, which are both bands I recommend checking out. While people who are looking for a consistently black metal album should stay away, fans of experimentation should check it out.

Fantastic compilation, listening to this a ton over the past few weeks has gotten me obsessed with Rhinocervs Records/the Black Twilight Circle, and gotten me to dig into it properly. If you don't know about Rhinocervs, well, they release a ton of compilations, usually with no indication for who the bands involved are (though they do indicate for Tukaaria, Odz Manouk, Kuxan Suum, Glossolalia, Absum, Nihilobstat). Really unique sounds these bands are forging, there may be plenty of raw, melodic Black Metal (which isn't all that's present here, but most), but not like this. Tukaaria, Odz Manouk, and Kuxan Suum in particular have warranted my recent obsession.

Tukaaria/Odz Manouk Split

This just gets better with every listen. Both bands are at the top of their game, creating some phenomenal USBM. Every song from this album has been getting stuck in my head all the time, it's quite catchy, in a strange, very intense way.

Panopticon "Social Disservices"

Possibly my favorite yet from Panopticon, though it's still too early to be sure. Much of the album (in particular "Resident" and the first half of "Subject") is the most intense, visceral material Panopticon have ever done- but, of course, there's still a lot of melody throughout. This album definitely does a fantastic job of going between angry, abrasive sections, being the most "straight up" Black Metal Panopticon have done, and beautiful, melodic, Post-Rock/Shoegaze influenced sections.

This is Black Metal! I discovered these guys just this year and I am totally hooked on that album! The whole album is haunted by these twisted keys and a cemetary-like atmosphere. The lyrics about Vampyrism, Werewolves, Necromancy and pest-ridden graves perfectly fit into this feeling. Toteslaut (or actually ToDeslaut) is catchy although it is typical Black Metal...but without sounding as I have heard it thousand times. A really great album with an outroduction taken from one of my favourite movies (Nosferatu from 1974).

Panopticon "Social Disservices"Possibly my favorite yet from Panopticon, though it's still too early to be sure. Much of the album (in particular "Resident" and the first half of "Subject") is the most intense, visceral material Panopticon have ever done- but, of course, there's still a lot of melody throughout. This album definitely does a fantastic job of going between angry, abrasive sections, being the most "straight up" Black Metal Panopticon have done, and beautiful, melodic, Post-Rock/Shoegaze influenced sections.

I liked the Wheels Whithin Wheels split a lot better. I dunno, Social Disservices was good but in my opinion but it is by far his weakest full length; didn't really compare with The Collapse. I think after this album he should slow down a bit, if he doesn't it will inevitably the band's downfall. The post-rock sections are already starting to be repetitive.

Gigan - Order of the False EyeReally weird tech-death with psychedelic passages. Freaking awesome. There are a lot of weird riffs and the song structures are bizarre. I love the psychedelic influences. It really sets these guys apart from other tech-death bands. I don't really have anything to compare this to. It can be a bit hard to get into at first - the first time I heard it I hated it. But its a grower. The ending is a long psychedelic soundscape, which is really good to zone out to.

Sigiriya - Return to Earth.Discovered this on Stonerobixxx. Amazing stoner rock/metal. Sounds like a simplified Kyuss. The songwriting on here is killer, every song is a hit. The riffs are great and there are a few great solos. The vocals are what really makes this, though. Its kind of a typical stoner metal approach, but the dude is just so damn good at doing it. There is not really that much experimentation, with the exception of one song, but this album is not really about that. Its about making killer, structured songs. The exception is "Deathtrip to Eryi". This song is a ten minute monster with psychedelic undertones. This song really takes me somewhere else. Return to Earth is an overall really solid album.

Yeah, at this point, I know I still like "Collapse" best. I wouldn't call SD Panopticon's weakest full length, though; not really sure where I'd rank it.

Anyways, OT:

Blut Aus Nord: 777 Sect(s) + 777- The Desanctication

Brilliant albums, go together perfectly as well. Between the mechanized, chaotic, yet highly structured brutality of "Sect(s)" and the dark, highly atmospheric, Psychedelic layers of "The Desanctication", I would say we have BAN's best work yet (though, admittedly, I'm not too familiar with some of their earlier albums)- I'm definitely looking forward to "Cosmosophy", and hoping it will find a way to combine the sounds of these two masterpieces.

Rwake: Rest

Shit, I really slacked off on checking this out (only bought it a few days ago, and I love Rwake). Great album, incredibly heavy and "massive" sounding. Filled to the brim with great riffing, and plenty of the usual Rwake strangeness, plus a number of great acoustic/clean interludes scattered throughout. Really should have listened to this sooner; if I had, it certainly would have been on the list I made in the "Best Releases" thread.

Demilich: Nespithe

Man, Finnish Death Metal rules. Really cool, often slightly off kilter riffs abound, technical and brutal without being "wanky" or overdone. And those vocals; while I can see why some would be put off by them (and they really do sound like frogs, haha), I think they're pretty awesome. Much better then most BDM-type vocals, for sure.

Lykathea Aflame: Elvenefris

One of the coolest Death Metal albums I've heard. Love the highly melodic Ambient and Prog Rock sections mixed with Brutal Death Metal; very unique, and more importantly, incredibly well done. There are even major key, "happy" moments scattered throughout, which somehow manage to fit perfectly. This is how you do Progressive Death Metal!

Definitely not as bad as I expected it to be. DT themselfs might claim is this their darkest and heaviest album, but to me that's rather questionable. You have these dumb loud and ''heavy'' chugga chugga riffs and even some rapping thrown in here and there, yet there's something about this album that I like, but i can't exactly put my finger on it. Something that I liked was, despite none of the tracks stand out that much is that there's atleast some consistency around. ''Vacant'' is a soft piece but fortunately doesn't last long. The rest could definitely leave you cold if you hate nu/modern metal with a passion. To me there's nothing ''dark'' about this release nor is heavy or crushing by any means yet this release does not disappoint. If I had to rate it I would give it a 60% or something.

Brilliant Progressive/Technical Death Metal. Sounds like Neurosis meets Deathspell Omega filtered through the best Tech-Death. Every song is incredibly well written, none sacrifice composition in favor of technical masturbation, and everything manages to be both highly melodic and quite dissonant at the same time. Most modern Death Metal (especially of the "Tech" variety) may suck, but as long as guys like Ulcerate keep making music like this, I'm happy.

Mitochondrion- Parasignosis

Been in the mood for bizarre Death Metal lately, and man, do these guys ever scratch that itch. Morbid, "out there", experimental Blackened Death Metal perfection. These guys often get compared to Portal, and rightfully so, but I think these guys are even better. Insane.

Blut Aus Nord- The Work Which Transforms God

Well, I don't know about transforming "God", but this certainly transformed BAN. Amazing album, raw, Industrial-ized Black Metal perfection. I wish I could write guitar lines as complex and dissonant as a lot of the ones here, and they just go perfectly with the Industrial beats. This is intense.

I discovered these guys while on a kind of 80's revival kick. I know that its making a kind of comeback with bands like Holy Grail, Enforcer, and Cauldron. Little did I know, Striker is actually a local Edmonton band (I'm from Edmonton). I instantly met up with the guitarist from the band and bought a ton of merch. Anyways, this band combines some of the greatest speed metal you will ever hear with some great 80's hair metal revival tunes. I couldn't believe it when I found out they were unsigned. The first track on the album, Full Speed Or No Speed, is by far the best, but the rest of the album is amazing too. Full Speed Or No Speed is literally the greatest and best speed metal song I've ever heard. It's got kickass vocals, great guitars, and awesome catchy hooks that have you banging your head uncontrollably while others in the room stare at you in confusion. Other great gems on the album are the title track and the White Knight which are also instant speed metal classics, and Never Ending Nights, which is more along the 80's revival lines that I talked about. The lyrics are all over the place, from metal itself, to love, to fantasy. Dan Cleary puts on one of the greatest and most powerful metal vocal performances I've ever heard and the album takes no breathers. HIGHLY recommended.

Beautifully melodic Raw/Atmospheric Black Metal. Some people consider this "Avant-Garde", but it sounds pretty straightforward to me. I guess there aren't really other bands who quite sound the same, though; these guys have all the melody of any Black/Shoegaze outfit, without actually playing anything resembling Shoegaze. Very cool album, nice to hear something like this in Raw BM.

Njiaqahdda: The Path Of Liberation From Birth And Death

An absolute mindfuck of an album. Ranges from technical, Avant-Garde chaos to Psychedelic, melodic beauty. Apparently these guys are quite prolific, so I'll need to check out some more of their discography; even if its all half as good as this, it would still be worth listening to.

Oranssi Pazuzu: Kosmonument

Now here's something unique. Very hard to explain; it's definitely Psychedelic, Avant-Garde Black Metal, often channeling influences such as Pink Floyd, Sonic Youth, and what sounds like Trip-Hop to me (which I admittedly don't have much experience with). Covers a lot of ground in its hour long running time. Next time I have some weed, I need to smoke to this.

Blud Aus Nord: 777- The Desanctication: I wanted to like it. It definitely feels more complete than the predecessor, which makes sense that was an entire album positioned as an intro for a larger 3 piece suite. But BAN has never really interested me, and I ended up needing to walk away from this one about halfway through. There's technicality and its heavy and whatever. It doesn't have riffs, there's no hooks, it just comes across as pretentious gobbledygook to me. I know people get all pissy about hipsterfied black metal, but this isn't any better at all. Its just as bad and maybe even more pretentious than Liturgy, except I really can't say that they were even shooting for anything particularly new.

Mitochondrion - Archaeaeon: This wasn't actively bad but I guess I was hoping for more given the way people talk about the band here. The third cut is really good, the fourth cut sounds like it might be awesome in the first third and then goes off into boring territory, but the rest was pretty forgettable and I again walked away to listen to something more interesting about 3/4 of the way through. The production is sorta strange - the drums sound like they were mic'd for a generic Victory Records release from the late 1990s. Not bad, just different. It just seems like Vital Remains style death metal, muted a bit, not nearly as riff filled, and even less attention to doing things like trimming song length (which is something VR is AWFUL at and these guys no better). Unlike VR, the best riff they write is in a 3 minute song and they don't bother to beat it to death. At least when Vital Remains wrote some terrific riffs, they'd beat the goddamn thing into the ground with their endless 10 minute tracks.

_________________"It's not some safe thing like Fugazi where everyone sits down and eats their tofu and goes 'wow man, that's revolutionary' " - Jerry A of Poison Idea

Giant Squid - CenotesFirst of all, this is not as good as "The Itchyologist". Its good, but by no means their best. These songs are more drawn out than on the previous album and much more metal. Its a very doomy album. The cello and female vocals keep this from sounding like your average doom affair. There are some really cool parts that sound middle eastern (although the singer has said in an interview that he gets those influences from a jewish band his friend was in.) This is a really cool album, I'd say check out the album that came before it first, but this one is still great and worth your time. My only real complaint is at 5 songs it comes off as a bit short.

Verdunkeln - s/t demoThis is fucking awesome. Raw psychedelic black metal with a very organic feel. Although there are calm atmospheric sections, this demo comes off as very aggressive. This is really one of the most original sounds in black metal I've heard in a while. Great riffs, great atmosphere and some killer vocals, both clean and harsh. Couldn't recommend this one enough.

Possibly my very favorite Pink Floyd album (WYWH and DSOTM give it a run for its money though). With the exception of the intro and outro, every song is a "long form" epic, and incredibly well written. Very "spacy" feel during the instrumental exploratory sections. One of the best "smoking albums" of all time, haha...

Nachtmystium- Instinct: Decay

Speaking of smoking albums, here's a great one. Raw, melodic Black Metal mixed with psychedelia and punky Iron Maiden riffing. Definitely stays closer to "true" Black Metal then the two Black Meddle albums, without all the psychedelic guitar layers this would be pretty straight forward, albeit very melodic, Raw BM. Anyways, the riffing throughout is just fantastic, great album.

Timeghoul- Tumultuous Travellings + Panaramic Twilight

Absolutely amazing Progressive Death Metal. Really raw and obscure sounding, which is a plus for me. The exemplary guitar work and occasional dark clean vocals really make these guys stick out, definitely one of the finer acts in Death Metal's history. I'm gonna need to order up the reissue/compilation of these when I get some more cash soon.

Atheist- Unquestionable Presence

Speaking of amazing Prog/Death...unquestionable masterpiece. This album is just insane, as jazzy as it is thrashy, moving between melodic and dissonant multiple times per song. It often seems like every instrument is simultaneously "leading" these songs; these guys sure as shit know how to play. One of my all time favorites.

One hell of an album. Insomnium has yet to release an album that I don't love, One For Sorrow simply isn't an exception.The production differs a little from their last albums, but the sound is still there, with constant melodies that are close to what I can only describe as pure tears rolling down the guitar as each note is stricken.It's incredibly layered, with the keyboards, lead guitars and rhythms, it's a fantastic album.

Although it is indeed a great album, my favorite Insomnium album still remains Above The Weeping World.

Ordered the discography before I had even listen to any of the tracks. Due to the artwork and the way people talk about it in high regard. Listened to the tracks in youtube. Majorly impressed. Pretty crazy spacey stuff too. Which I like. Riffs are so so sweet. Also I heard that the re-release has a better porduction. Can't wait to get mine in the post.

Isis - Panopticon

Had listened to this ocassionally for about two years now. But never thought it was amazing as everyone said it is. But finally I'm starting to love it. Thought I would sooner since I love Neurosis but I always thought of them as a poor man's Neurosis. Boy was I wrong. Diggin' Ravering Radiant too. Might pick that up first as I found it easier to like than Panopticon.

This one stands out because it's so evil. Albums like 'Onward to Golgotha' are evil due to the amounts of crazy dissonance, this one is a lot more melodious, but somehow remains dark as hell. In that aspect it reminds me a bit of early Necrophobic, which is a good thing obviously. The vocals are mostly very awesome deep growls. The production is just perfect. But for me the real highlight is the very dark and evil atmosphere created by the riffs/solos/leads and the cavernous vocals. Excellent album that gets my seal of approval.

I have been listening to it all week. I like how the band accurately tells the story of Jeffrey Dahmer. The heavy deathgrind sound of the verses with the nursery rhyme sounding catchy choruses is great. Some of the songs can get stuck in your head quite easily. Especially the portion about Jeffrey working at a chocolate factory, they do it to the oompa loompa theme. Its a crazy album with a sick sense of humor.

One of my top ten favorite albums, and it's funny that no one has heard of them. Just looking at my iPod right now, I've played Dahmer about 43 times, and that's in a very short period of time. It's a forgotten classic that needs to be dug up and remembered properly, one of the greatest metal records from an Old School Death Metal band, period... and I'll go as far as to say one of the greatest records I've ever heard. I have it on CD and the "thank you" part is interesting, they have a lot of bands they like.

Meanwhile, my recent endeavors have been System of a Down's Hypnotize, possibly another highly underrated album, as SOAD is only really known for Toxicity (the album) and a couple of hits off of the rest of the albums. While many people consider them rock, I see them as full on metal. Seriously, metal is characterized by aggression, distorted guitars, etc, and that's what they have. They have blast beats, heavy Drop C riffing, screaming (at points), thrash metal styled songs, etc. It's odd to me that SOAD isn't on the metal archives, as I don't see any reason why the songs "Attack", "Tentative", or "Holy Mountains" aren't metal, and yet "Windowpane" by Opeth is. And I love Opeth. But SOAD is pretty much metal through and through, with an experimental nature similar to Devin Townsend or Buckethead. I'd consider all three of these artists metal, but that's just me.

Another of my recent endeavors is the almighty "Outer Isolation" by Vektor. Nothing to say, but it's awesome.

Insomnium - Across the darkThis album is amazing! I listened to it when I had a ton of spare time after I finished early in one of my classes, and for the rest of the day I felt a sense of greater purpose and felt content with my life.

Skeletonwitch - Forever AbominationI started this one because I'm going to Seattle to see them during spring break. Probably my favorite blackish metal band at the moment.

Hour of Penance - ParadogmaThis album is crazy... You can tell it's related to Fleshgod Apocalypse. I can't wait to see them play with Skeletonwitch and Nile on April 2!

The River - Different Ways to be HauntedThis is female fronted doom with excellent songwriting. The guitars are extremely downtuned and pretty slow. They serve as an excellent backdrop for a talented female singer. Her voice is what really makes this demo so amazing. While the instrumental aspects could really be from any doom band (I don't mean that in a bad way, I'm just saying they conform to the genre) the vocals are what makes this so original. She has an amazing voice, not to pretty but not ugly or harsh either. Just a perfect balance.

Crumbling Ghost - s/tThese guys aren't metal enough to be on the archives, but I'm going to talk about it here because there is a considerable amount of doom metal influence on this album. I find it hard to classify this album. It is folk and psychedelic rock mixed with a bit of doom. There are a few really good early Black Sabbath style riffs that add menace to the record. Some tracks are short and catchy (can't get "Nobody's Here" out of my head), while some tracks are longer and more expansive. There are many psychedelic influences, which works very well with this style of music. While this understandably isn't on the archives (as the psychedelic rock and folk is much more prominent than the doom metal), I think this will leave doom fans (who are open to experimentation) very pleased.

March Into The Sea - Church of the Void SwimmerThese guys have an amazing name and the cover artwork is equally cool, but that is where the good aspects of this band ends. The music is really, really bad. Its really slow sludgy doom. Its really filthy and really repetitive. There are no interesting riffs, the music always stays the same and the vocals are really bad; sometimes it sounds like the dude is burping. There is absolutely nothing about this that makes it worth checking out. I wish a better band took this name, I was actually considering it for my own band before I learned it was taken.

One hell of an album. Insomnium has yet to release an album that I don't love, One For Sorrow simply isn't an exception.The production differs a little from their last albums, but the sound is still there, with constant melodies that are close to what I can only describe as pure tears rolling down the guitar as each note is stricken.It's incredibly layered, with the keyboards, lead guitars and rhythms, it's a fantastic album.

Although it is indeed a great album, my favorite Insomnium album still remains Above The Weeping World.

I love that album so much... I think Decoherence, Every Hour Wounds, One For Sorrow, and Weather the Storm are my favorites from it. But for me, no Insomnium album can ever compare to Across the Dark. One time I listened to Across the Dark all the way through during spare time at school, and for the rest of the day I felt as if I was in a tranquil state, and I was in the best of moods... It's the greatest album ever!

One For Sorrow is for me the first Insomnium album I don't like. Where is the gradiose magnificence of songs like Into The Woods, or the blissful atmosphere of Last Statement? The somehow determined, glorious sadness of Weighed Down With Sorrow? The ingenious riffcraft of The Elder and basic rocking out melodeath greatness of Death Walked The Earth and The Killjoy?

It's Insomnium's weakest moments combined into one mediocre album. The songs work alright live, and I sure hope the album itself will eventually grow on me, but for now, I'll leave it to collect dust.

Absolutely brilliant album, better then anything they did in the 90's (with the exception of "Eld") IMO. The touches of Psychedelia and Prog Rock really work for me, love that kind of influence in extreme Metal. Opening track "As Fire Swept Clean The Earth" might just be my very favorite Enslaved track, so beautiful and melancholy (and with that awesome sudden Death Metal middle section).

been into black and black/death this week. Akercocke especially. These listenings have been transcendental, amazing, brutal, and most of all, EXCITING. I only have "Words" so far, and that album has been played non-stop. A little bit Mastodon, a little bit Anaal Nathrakh. The sad thing is I got like 6 albums the week before and Akercocke made me lose all interest in them.

Immortal. Never been into them. I think Abbath's stage performance looks a bit silly. I really got into them this week, though, listening to them a lot on youtube. I ended up buying Sons of Northern Darkness and I'm looking forward to hearing it. As a casual black metal fan, my listening of the genre consists of Emperor, Dark Funeral, Belphegor, Behemoth, Anaal Nathrakh, and Akercocke. Pretty limited I know. I'm hoping immortal expands that

I've been listening quite a bit to the new lunar aurora - hoagascht album. So far this album is different than the other albums. The songs are shorter and are relatively all the same length, It is much more mellow and does not contain blastbeats (it crossed my mind as lunar aurora's style on belus) and the keyboards are more into the direction of ambient/electronics. Now that I think of it, the songs seem also to be composed in a more ambient/electronics way although they are definitively metal.Even though the new album has not the reasons why I listened before to lunar aurora, the atmospheric transitions that could be almost ghost like at times (esp. elixir of sorrow and zyklus) now it is more dreamy, I still felt the urge to listen to it multiple times. I doubt that this album will reach the heights of their earlier work but I begin to suspect that there is more to this album than I originally thought.

Atheist - Piece of Time. I have been listening to this in my CD player alot recently. I am very new to Atheist, this being my first album from the band, but I must say it has blown me away. Great vocals, interesting and meaningful lyrics, brutal riffs...what more could a death metal fan want? My favorite song from this album was "I Deny", this song makes me think of a sorcerer on a big rock out in the middle of the ocean, shifting the tides and such...awesome.

@Necroticism174 - while I respect what you think, I've always felt Atheist to have a great singer. Kelly's vocals aren't for everyone, but his work on "Piece of Time" is unique and I've always had a thing for earlier DM vocals.

I'd checked out some tracks from Ulver's black metal era, but honestly I wasn't impressed (particularly Nattens Madrigal, which sounded like it was recorded that badly as a joke). But I decided to get this anyway, because I heard it sounded totally different, and... wow. For someone who has no interest in electronic music or ambient, it's still brilliant. The songs are repetitive, but change in a subtle way so it never gets boring, with instruments like saxophone, live drums and occasional electric guitar giving it tons of character. Garm's vocals are quite astonishing - he can express so much emotion in his voice with such power (check the choirs on "Nowhere/Catastrophe"). But what I really love is the atmosphere of the album. It has that whole noir-jazz, lonely city streets vibe, and they nailed it perfectly. The subtitle is "Music to an Interior Film", and that's about accurate. It would be awesome as the soundtrack to a film. This could, in fact, be a potential gateway into electronic music for me - if anyone can recommend some electronic artists who sound like this, that would be great.

Perfect middlegroud between "Below The Lights" and the more recent Enslaved sound. Can't get enough of this album, between the brilliant, Proggy riffs & melodies, psychedelic lead guitars & keyboards, fantastic harsh & clean vox...one of my favorite albums from Enslaved, along with "Eld" and "Below The Lights".

Njiqahdda- Yrg Alms

Listening to this right now, quite a beautiful album. Melds Atmospheric Black Metal, Psychedelia, Post-Rock, Shoegaze, and Ambient perfectly (and some Noise in the second half as well). Sublime use of melody throughout, these guys really know how to write a riff/lead line/keyboard line. The whole album has a very warm, otherworldly feeling to it, like being on mushrooms while smoking some great hash.

Njiqahdda- Nji Njiijn Njiiijn

Man, I love these guys. The 3 albums I have by them are all very different from each other, while keeping intact the general "Psychedelic Black Metal" sound. This one is very minimalist/droning, with every song stretching over 15 minutes, while only featuring a few riffs. And it works, wonderfully. The (electric) drums really add to this, sounding like something out of industrial or some other electronic subgenre (I'm not very knowledgeable in that area, so excuse me if I'm way off). In a sense, the drums are often acting as a "lead instrument", changing it up and playing a lot of variations on their "theme" while the guitars/keyboards just switch between a few choice riffs/melodies. Very interesting album, not quite like anything else I've heard (which seems to generally be the case with these guys; great band).

Napalm Death- Utilitarian

And now, something completely different (haha)! My favorite ND since Harmony Corruption. The atmospheric elements really add to this, helping to make a more varied Grind album than most. Man, listening to this really gets me pumped up. This is definitely gonna stay somewhere among my favorite ND albums/Grind albums in general. Awesome!

Enslaved- IsaPerfect middlegroud between "Below The Lights" and the more recent Enslaved sound. Can't get enough of this album, between the brilliant, Proggy riffs & melodies, psychedelic lead guitars & keyboards, fantastic harsh & clean vox...one of my favorite albums from Enslaved, along with "Eld" and "Below The Lights".

Just as good as their old classics in my opinion. The title track is one of my favourite BM songs of all time.

Skeleton of God - Primordial DominionThis album is pretty nuts. Its really experimental death metal with lots of psychedelia thrown in. This has both great atmosphere and awesome riffs. A lot of the time the riffs are slower and more doomy than the average death metal band, and this is not at all a drawback. Even if it wasn't experimental at all the songwriting alone would make this album good. The experimentation just gives it that something extra that boosts it from being a great album to an amazing album.

Pentagram - Be ForewarnedIt took me long enough to discover this classic. Everything about this is killer. The riffs are absolutely top notch, the singing is great and the songwriting is excellent. The guitar solos are amazing to, the guitar player can shred when he wants to, but doesn't fall into the trap of being a soulless shredder, the kind who just play as fast as they can without doing anything original. He knows when to restrain himself and his solos are very tasteful. This is certainly doom, but it is not as depressing/sad sounding as a lot of other bands. Some of the tracks even sound almost upbeat. My favourite track is "Frustration". A great mix of mellow sections with clean guitar tone and rocking doom sections.

(The Lord Weird) Slough Feg - Animal SpiritsWell obviously this is going to be good. The guitar is extremely well executed, as to be expected and the songwriting is really good. Anyone who's heard the band knows the deal - they stick to their sound but they do it well. Good classic metal sound. I do wish they would try to experiment a bit more or something, though. I mean, they don't try anything new at all on this release. This is great, but "Down Among the Deadmen" was way better, and this doesn't do all that much new. Whatever, its still a killer album. I'd start with the album I just mentioned, but this is great, too.

I really enjoyed "Into the Grave" a while back, so when I found this one for a good price I was all over it. It finally came yesterday. Came home from work, got loaded and headbanged through the whole thing. It's fucking amazing. Grief and Christi(ns)anity were my favorites, but the whole thing was a classic. The lyrics are a crushing indictment of religion similar to Convulse. The songs seemed to blur together a little more than on their debut and they were missing Jonas Torndal, but it didn't show. Jorgen was and still is an awesome vocalist; I wish he were fronting his own straight DM band again.

If I remember correctly, this album was made around the time they put aside traditional album organization and were, in fact, doing sound tracks for actual movies (Lyckantropen Themes and Svidd Neger). If you liked Perdition City, I definitely recommend their William Blake.... It's sort of a bridge between their older stuff and the more electronic direction they've ended up sticking with.

quantum sphere- the space adventures of pyjama boy. this is a mostly intrumental progressive metal band that mixes up some killer guitar djent and lead synthesizers to come up with some very cool and interesting ideas within modern prog metal.

this has been one of my most listened to albums in the last few years, but the last week its definitely been my album of choice. I find this album has abit of everything for me. some good riffs, proggy influences, good atmosphere...all while keeping a cohesive sound of the album.

The Build in the second half of the song Atme is spectacular and puts me in the zone as each 30 seconds or so a new instrument or pattern is added until its peak a few minutes later

Loss - DespondVery crushing and slow. For the most part the vocals are extremely deep growls low in the mix. The guitar melodies are sorrowful and very well done. For the rhythm guitar it is basically what you would normally expect from funeral doom. There are some really nice atmospheric sections with pianos and clean guitars. This is a very good album, both heavy and accessible by funeral doom standards. Recommended.

Caltrop - World ClassSome pretty good stoner doom. The instrumentation somewhat reminds me of Kyuss, but with more focus on clean sections (kind of like they had on Kyuss's final album.) The vocals seem more punk influenced than Kyuss. There are some great solos, good clean sections. If you like stoner metal or doom, this is definitely worth checking out.

Kauan - Lumikuuro An absolutely awesome mix of classical/folk and black metal. While black metal is certainly not at the forefront, it is very powerful when it comes up. The violin/piano/acoustic guitar passages are all executed with precision. This Russian duo is definitely very capable of playing multiple instruments and styles. I am curious to hear their later releases (this one is the debut) I hear they move away from metal altogether. This is definitely one of the best metal albums I've heard in a long time.

Atlas Moth - An Ache For The Distance.Holy fucking shit, this is amazing. The band has three guitarists, and there is usually at least two guitars and this multi-layered approach really pays off. They are often melodic, but this is still a very heavy record. I'm not sure what genre I'd put this in. The lead singer has a very sharp rasp that would fit in with black metal and the clean singer has a very deep voice and is superb at melodies. The rhythm guitar is usually very doomy and the lead melodic. They sometimes go into stoner mode and rip out some riffs that sound like Nebula. The album also has a great sense of atmosphere, which is sometimes a bit spacey. Possibly my favourite metal album of 2011.

Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1This is the first release by Nachtmystium where they really start to move away from black metal. There are often doomy riffs, the vocals aren't always the typical black metal rasps and there are a few (sometimes quite long) interludes that have nothing at all to do with black metal. I think this album is really cool, the songwriting is great (although sometimes a bit more rock oriented than traditional black metal), the guitar solos are killer and the psychedelic effects really make this album distinct. The seasick trilogy is amazing, and far removed from anything Nachtmystium has ever done before. Part two features some really cool almost jazzy solos and saxaphone from Bruce of Yakuza and Bloodiest, which are both bands I recommend checking out. While people who are looking for a consistently black metal album should stay away, fans of experimentation should check it out.

What a coincidence, I've been listening to Holes in the Desert by Atlas Moth too! Great shit

I haven't really listened of Kreator's works before Violent Revolution besides Coma of Souls (All hail) and Extreme Aggression, so I randomly picked COC on Spotify and I was instantly attracted by how heavy it is. It seems like it has more of a heavier tone then Coma and Extreme and I really like that. I thought it was a good album, not HOLY SHIT THIS IS AMAZING (I have to admit the drum intro on the third track was awesome though) but it was a great listen. Only problems were some of the songs lost my attention kinda dragged on and the ending on the last track was pretty dumb in my opinion.

Hypocrisy - [2009] - A Taste of Extreme DivinityThis is the first Hypocrisy album I've listened to and sadly, it's the only one I've listened to at this point. BUT! That is soon about to change because I picked up Virus the other day. I love this album and it's always fun to listen too. Brings back good summer memories and I love the guitar work. It's got a great amount of heavy, melody, and riffs to keep me satisfied.

Listening to this right now, even. Brilliant album, and works as a great transition from Godflesh to Jesu's S/T. Both songs are, for lack of a better term, "epic", transitioning, in my mind, perfectly between moments of crushing, industrialized Doom and beautiful, shoegazing Post-Rock. This album has become one of my biggest obsessions lately.

Jesu- Silver

Basically, My Bloody Valentine filtered through a bit of Sludge. In other words, goddamn incredible. Listening to this makes me ridiculously happy.

Netra- Melancolie Urbane

DSBM, Trip-Hop, and Post-Punk all combine to make one hell of an inventive and interesting album. Goes perfectly with smoking spliffs and walking around abandoned, decaying old industrial factories. Fucking awesome!

I haven't been listening to that much metal lately, mostly electronic, psychedelia and singer/songwriter stuff. Heres some of the metal that I have been listening to:

Smallman - s/t This is really cool. The best way I can describe this: Imagine Tool mixed with instrumental elements of Times of Grace/Sun that Never Sets era Neurosis with weird atonal bagpipes. The bagpipes are cooler than you'd think, couldn't even tell they were bagpipes until I went on the Smallman site profile and discovered the singer also plays bagpipes. This is a great album, too short to become monotonous and full of quality songwriting. There seems to be an Eastern Old-Word folk element which comes off as very cool and exotic. Instrumentally every part of this is amazing, from the tribal drumming to the warm atmospheric parts to the sludgy riffs. There are a lot of similarities to Tool, although these guys are heavier and have a lot of full on sludge riffs. I actually think I might like them better then Tool. In conclusion, this album kicks massive amounts of ass!

Lordamor - s/tPretty much funeral doom, with strong influences of "torture doom" (silly genre title, but thats what its being called.) Devastating slow riffs are matched with vocals that would be at home in a dsbm band. The type of melody often associated with funeral doom is abundant. This is awesome, and I think the vocalist is the main culprit. WIthout him, this would be good, but expected funeral doom. The vocalist really makes it something different. The vocals are pained and much higher pitched than you'd expect for this kind of metal. A very strong album.

I really don't know why a lot of people seem to dislike this. First of all, Vintersorg has never performed better for Borknagar. He seamlessly puts together clean singing and harsh vocals, each transition works out perfectly. Additionally, the lyrics are worth reading, the part after the break in "Traveller" gets me everytime:

"Thoughts of a thinker.Infinity of numbers.Numbered thoughts.Thoughts of infinity."

Followed by a Pythagoras quote - how awesome is that?

Asgeir Mickelson's drumming is the next strong point of the album. It's versatile yet to-the-point, bombastic but not distracting. Such a flawless performance makes me want to throw away my guitar and learn the drums. That's probably what some people miss here: guitar work that can keep up with the drumming. There are a couple of good parts, even some scattered leads, but the album's certainly lacking in this department. However, if you can get over that fact, Epic will prove to be absolutely worthwhile due to its vast array of impressive vocals, wonderful melodies and energetic hooks.